Joe Koshollek

UW receivers coach Chris Betty is the new recruiting coordinator.

Deiter, listed at 6 feet 5 inches and 310 pounds, should be in his final semester at Genoa High School in Ohio.

However, Deiter graduated a semester early, enrolled at Wisconsin in January and, with Dallas Lewallen and Dan Voltz recovering from off-season surgery, has been working with the No.1 offensive line in spring practice.

So far, so good.

"Michael has come in and been the starting center and handled it well," UW coach Gary Andersen said Wednesday morning, after the team's fifth spring practice. "He is going against a very good nose guard in Warren (Herring), and I think Warren is playing at a pretty high level right now.

"Mentally I would say he has been very stable throughout the semester. As the offense grows, with different plays that they're putting in, he has seemed to handle it well.

"For him to be able to handle it physically, and on top of that the mental part of it, is impressive."

Hayes in the mix? Leon Jacobs, who played on special teams as a freshman last season, moved to inside linebacker from the outside this week.

According to Andersen, one reason for the move is that Jesse Hayes appears poised to be a factor in the two-deep along with Vince Biegel at the boundary linebacker position.

"It is time for Jesse to step up and be the guy (or) at least be given the opportunity to be the guy," Andersen said of Hayes, who will be a redshirt junior next season. "He kind of earned that right and if Jesse takes advantage of that it will be a good thing.

"If we see that as an opportunity to have a solid two-deep, then Leon can grow and mature and develop on the inside, which is the recipe we think (puts) the best players on the field at this point."

T.J. Watt injured: Tight end T.J. Watt, who missed part of his freshman season in 2013 after hurting his right knee, suffered an injury to his left knee Wednesday.

Watt was helped off the field by the trainers and later tweeted: "Sometimes all you can do is put your head down and grind through it."

Andersen believes the injury isn't serious.

"I think he is OK," Andersen said. "I think he's got a tweak.... We'll have to look and see."

Beatty in charge: Wide receivers coach Chris Beatty, who worked at Northern Illinois, West Virginia, Vanderbilt and Illinois before joining the UW staff last year, has replaced Thomas Hammock as recruiting coordinator. Hammock, who coached UW's running backs from 2011-'13, left to coach running backs for the Baltimore Ravens.

Beatty was the recruiting coordinator at Vanderbilt and West Virginia.

"He brings some fresh ideas to the direction that we want to head," Andersen said. "He takes great pride in being a recruiting coordinator."

Rise and shine: Andersen moved Wednesday practice to the morning from the afternoon, mostly because many players had tests. The session ended at 7:50 a.m.

"This was the best time with a lot of tests and a lot of things going on," he said. "I thought they handled it well. Also want to give them some curveballs through spring ball. It is a young group; see how they handle the adjustments in the schedule."